Tear of Sacrifice
by Shiian
Summary: Sephiroth gets mixed up in a whole bunch of really weird stuff, ya have to read it. Sorry it's so long, I'll seperate the chapters someday. R&R please.


A/N: This is a story about my friends and mine own theories about Masamune, Sephiroth, and Kuja. I recommend that you have played FF7 and FF9 _before _reading this or you'll just be all screwed up, you need to at least know the story line and characters. So that you know, I'm calling the FF7 world Terra 'cuz I want it like that for the story. I am only using the _name_ Fanelia because it's cool; it's _not_ an Escaflowne fic. Kuja is very messed up in this, he has a split personality kinda thing, don't ask. I don't own the rights of the Final Fantasy games (unfortunately) so I give Squaresoft full credit for all the characters and everything in the games. Oh, one more thing, I'm not too good at putting the characters into character so don't flame me for it please. Enjoy! 

Shiian

Tear of Sacrifice

In the midst and confusion of the fire it was lost. Thought to never be seen again. But how could the strongest sword in all of Terra just disappear? It somehow had. It was last seen spinning madly out of the smoke, cutting through the smoke itself. Sephiroth, driven mad by the loose of power from losing it, had disappeared as well. Or had he? Some say he disappeared without it, others think he went searching for it, but most believe that he died. 

"Kuja…" A voice called mysteriously.

"What do you want? I'm trying to sleep." Another voice answered, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Go to Terra, retrieve the legendary Masamune,"

"And?"

"Destroy Gaia, it will get in the way of our plans"

"Yeah, whatever" The voice left the chamber. In the light you could see he was a pale young man with flowing silver hair and bright, alert blue eyes with a bit of sly evil lurking in them. He was wearing a long white skirt and the top was burgundy with gold trimmings and white sleeves, it was short enough that you could see his navel. 

"Do this, do that, what I have to do for him." He sighed, brushing a piece of silver hair from his face. "But, this just might be fun. I get to destroy a planet!" He left on his silver dragon, going to seek the Masamune. 

Zidane, Freya, Vivi, and Eiko are shopping in Alexandria for Queen Garnet's birthday. Everyone was puzzled.

"What do you get a Queen?" Vivi questioned.

"Hmmm, one of these?" Freya said to herself, looking at jewelry.

"She already _has_ jewelry" Eiko explained.

"A, dress?" Zidane thought.

"Zidane, that is a wonderful idea," Freya exclaimed.

"She has millions of dresses!" Eiko yelled.

"But not a special one from us." Zidane said, in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Yeah…. so?" Eiko asked, confuzzled.

"W-we could all give her separate gifts" Vivi suggested. 

"That might be a better idea than one big present." Freya thought.

"I'm gonna get her the best present ever!" Eiko yelled, running out of the store to shop on her own. 

"Everyone, get Dagger your own idea of the most special present you can get her!" Everyone nodded and left to shop. _Hmmm, should I still get Dagger a dress? I'll go look around._ Zidane went to the dress shop, magics shop, and art store. _Damn, I didn't know it was so hard to shop for a girl. I'll just get her a damn dress!_ He walked back to the dress shop. 

"Back again, young man?"

"Yeah, you got a dress for a beautiful girl?" The lady spread her arms.

"That's all we sell, young man"

"Can I get one for, a special person?"

"Or course, did you have anything in mind?"

"Something really beautiful, uh, silk! And, white."

"I'll see what I can find, wait right here." She left to look in the back of the store. Zidane browsed around the jewelry boxes. _Should I get her something to go with it?_

"Here you are, young man. Come and see what you think." She led him over to a woman with a very beautiful dress on. It was all white, around the bottom it was lace and on the sides it had slits that went up to her knees, the neck and arms were trimmed with pearls. 

"I, like it. Do you have a, bracelet that would look nice with it?" 

"Do I? I had a feeling you would ask that" The lady with the dress on held out her right hand and it had on it a sapphire bracelet, it looked very pretty with the white dress. 

"Uh, price tag?" He asked, resentfully. She gave him a slip of paper. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. "That's all it's worth!?"

"I could increase the price if you want" 

"Uh, no, I'll take it"

"Alright then" She shuffled over to the register and rung up the price of it all. Zidane left with it all gift-wrapped and pretty looking. _Hmmm…I got a little extra time, I'll go to the weapons shop. _As Zidane was walking towards the shop he saw a large line in front of it. 

"Excuse me" He tapped a man on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" The man said gruffly.

"What's goin' on?"

"The owner's given 'way a sword"

"Really?"

"Yeah, damn people all want it so the line's damn long"

"Hmmm…."

"If yer gonna try an' get it then get in front o' me"

"Thanks" Zidane said, stepping in front of the man. He could now see the sign in the window: Free Sword, anyone who can get it. "Huh? Anyone who can get it?"

"That's what it says, boy"

"What's it mean?" He asked curiously.

"No clue" Zidane sighed. The line moved pretty quickly, soon him and the man were the only ones in the shop. Zidane walked over to the counter. 

"Where's this sword you're given away?"

"Right here" The clerk pointed to the counter, a sword handle was there but no sword.

"Is this a joke!?"

"Nope, it just came through the roof"

"Came through the roof?" Zidane asked, confuzzled.

"Yep, I was just sitting here a few days ago and that sword came crashin' through the roof, nearly took my head off, anyways, it kinda, floated there for a second then lodges itself in my damn counter, haven't been able to get it out since. So I let people try to pull it out, if they can get it out, they can have it!"

"I'll try"

"Suit yourself" Zidane rolled up his sleeves and spit on his hands, he grabbed the handle, a sudden warmth whipped through him. He tugged hard on it, but needn't had to done so. In the first little tug it came sliding out easily. The clerk's jaw dropped.

"I've seen a many try harder than that an' it didn't budge."

"They must have pried it loose for me"

"That thing must be a 6 footer easy"

"Yeah, well, thanks for the sword" Zidane called back, walking out with his new sword. He looked at it carefully, on the very top of the blade, near the handle, it had _Masamune_ engraved into it. "Hmmm…" Zidane rubbed his chin. 

"Zidane!" Someone called, he saw Freya running towards him with a small package under her arm. "You done shopping?"

"Yeah," He held out the package with the dress in it. 

"Good, Vivi's coming and I have no idea where Eiko is." She said, looking around. She suddenly noticed Masamune. "Where did that come from?"

"Got it in the weapons shop"

"It must have been a fortune"

"Nope, just pulled it out of the counter" 

"What do you mean, Zidane?" She asked curiously.

"I mean what I said, hey, there's Vivi. Hey, Vivi!" Vivi came running and stumbling over to them.

"Hi Zidane, Freya. You guys done?"

"Yeah, we're just waiting for Eiko" Zidane answered, looking around. Someone tapped on his leg, he looked down. There stood Eiko, admiring the Masamune.

"What's that?"

"My new sword," Zidane said proudly.

"Oh, lets go back to the castle," she started to walk off in the direction of the castle moat. Everyone followed.

He heard them all around, the "Who's that?" and "Where'd he come from?" He just ignored them; they could all sense who it was, even if they were too afraid to confirm their suspicions. He walked to the old mansion, the only thing that hadn't been rebuilt from the fire. He walked through the gates, feeling a sense of pleasure at being at his old 'residence'. He just walked though the door, his cloak trailing behind him as he entered. _It's good to be here. _He thought walking to the bedroom, none of the monsters bothered him as he too still struck fear in their hearts as well as the people of Terra. Opening the secret passage with a wave of his hand he walked down the steps. He walked down the dusty chambers and stopped at one, feeling the power within it. With another wave of his hand the door opened, _it feels good it be in power again_ he thought. He stepped through the dusty frame of the door, now feeling the full power within. He walked to the source of the power, an illusion of a wall. He passed through the wall, now in a dark chamber his mako eyes were the only thing that cast light in the chamber, using fire, he lit the torches on the wall. A gigantic stone arch stood before him, he pressed his hand upon a part of the frame. Something pierced his hand drawing blood. He spoke to it. 

"Holy gate, I call upon your powers

Allow me passage, I hold Cetra blood" He looked through the gateway and watched as the cavern walls behind the gateway dissipated into a bright green, revealing another world. He bowed to the archway, passing through the portal it had created. 

"What's this?" Queen Garnet asked Zidane as he put a blind fold over her eyes. 

"You'll see," He assured her. He started leading her from he room. "Okay, take a right here, down the stairs, careful now," He directed. 

"As long as your leading I will," It was a good thing that she had a blind fold on because Zidane's face was now beet red. 

"Thanks, Dagger,"

"You know, Zidane, you should at least call me by my name,"

"That is you're name to me,"

"But…"

"Not now, here we are," They were standing at the balcony of the stairs that lead outside. He took off her blind fold.

"SURPRISE!!!!" Everyone shouted. She grasped her chest, very surprised indeed. There was a cake three stories high, a table full of presents and everyone that she had meet two years ago. Even Professor Tot was there. 

"Happy birthday, Garnet," Zidane whispered in her ear. He took her by the hand and started to lead her down the steps. Everyone came over to see her. 

"A surprise party, eh? Steiner, did you know of this?" She sounded very stern. 

"Yes, your majesty," He answered, looking at his feet. 

"Did I not instruct you all _not_ to give me a party?" She questioned, glaring at them all.

"Yes, majesty," Everyone answered.

"Well, thank-you all for not listening," Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then started laughing. 

"Your Majesty!" A guard came running in, one other behind him. 

"Yes?" She asked, nonchalantly. 

"A strange man collapsed in the street," The one that entered first said. 

"Where is he?" She asked, now concerned.

"He is in the guest room resting," The other said.

"What do you mean by strange?" She asked, her voice filled with curiosity. Everyone came over to listen.

"Well, he doesn't appear to be of Gaia, he was wearing a cloak and looks very mysterious. We thought you might like to question him,"

"Yes, have guards posted by the door and tell me when he is awake,"

"Yes, your majesty," They rushed out to have this done.

"I'm sorry, let's have some fun," They decided to eat some cake and open presents. She was opening Vivi's present; she pulled a pair of sapphire earrings out of a tiny box. "Thank-you Vivi, they're beautiful," She put them on.

"You look very pretty,"

"Thanks, hmmm… this one's from Freya," she tore off the paper and opened a box a little bigger. A sapphire necklace was in this one; she put it on too. "Thanks, Freya," 

"Your majesty deserves the best," Garnet blushed. She took a rather large one from the pile and saw it was from Zidane. He smirked as she opened it. She took off the cover and saw the beautiful white silk dress. She was speech-less. 

"Z-Zidane, I-it's beautiful,"

"Only the best," Zidane said, putting his hands behind his head. Garnet took out a little box and opened it, it held in it the sapphire bracelet. 

"Is the theme this year sapphire?" She joked. Every watched as she put on the bracelet. 

"You look beautiful, a sapphire bloom," Eiko volunteered. Everyone nodded in agreement. The guards came rushing in.

"Your majesty, the guest is awake," They left when she nodded.

"What do you all say to a guest speaker?" They all laughed and followed her to the guestroom.

"Your majesty," The guards saluted smartly. They followed her to the room. When they entered they saw the guest leaning against a bed support. He was very well built, wearing a long cloak with straps across his chest and black pants. He had shoulder pads and long silver hair; his eyes shone a strange bright green. 

"So this is the Queen of Alexandria, pleased to meet you," He bowed slightly. 

"What business do you have in Alexandria?" She felt nervous around him, for he reminded her of Kuja. All of the others seemed uneasy too, eyeing him suspiciously.

"My name is Sephiroth, I come from far away. I wish to take up residence in Alexandria, and continue my quest,"

"What is the nature of your quest?"

"I am searching for my lost sword, given to me by my father, it means a great deal to me,"

"Have you ever heard of a man named Kuja?"

"No, why, may I ask?"

"You look extraordinarily like him," 

"What has he done to alarm you in my presence?"

"He, destroyed the four kingdoms of Gaia, two years ago. We thought he was dead but you look very much like him so we were alarmed, please forgive our actions," 

"It is forgiven, now, will you grant my request?" Sephiroth asked. 

"I'm afraid not. It would alarm my people."

"You don't understand. I _need_ to be here." Sephiroth said, advancing on her. 

Zidane took action, he pulled out Masamune and held it at Sephiroth's throat. He smirked.

"Take one more step and you're a dead man."

"That sword can't hurt me,"

"Oh, it can't?" He swung Masamune towards Sephiroth with full force; it stopped abruptly at his throat. "H-how?"

"Masamune, come to your master," The sword started to glow like his eyes and left Zidane's hand to come to Sephiroth's sword sheath, it slid into it easily. "It belongs to me," He smirked again. Sephiroth's eyes glowed a bit brighter. 

"D-Dagger, w-what's wrong with you?" Zidane stuttered. She looked like she was in a trance.

"Now, I take my leave," He waved his hand and the window opened. He walked over to it, wings burst from his back, one white and one black. He stepped onto the frame, taking one last glance he jumped. Garnet all of a sudden seemed to be out of the trance.

"Wait!" She called out the window. He glanced back, something hit him and he started to fall but quickly regained his balance. Sephiroth looked around for his attacker. He saw a flicker of silver and black. He focused on the object and saw the attacker, Kuja. He was flying circles around Sephiroth with black wings. Sephiroth remained in one place. 

"What do you want!?" He called. 

"Your sword!" Kuja called back. 

"You'll have to take it from me!" He pulled out Masamune and held it in front of him, suddenly he shoot forward and slashed at Kuja. He faded to the right and down easily dodging the attack. 

"I expected more from the great Sephiroth!" Kuja flew up at him and lashed out at him with a dagger he had drawn. He hit his right arm, a large gash in it now and flew back below him. Sephiroth called out and covered his arm with his left forearm, still holding Masamune. He had a look of complete and utter rage on his face. He dove at Kuja, he tried to fade to the right again but Sephiroth's wing hit him, making him do a back flip in mid air, making him drop the dagger. He regained his balance, holding his head. He threw down his hands and a trickle of blood was on his head. Sephiroth smirked and Kuja began flying upwards at him, his hands cupped around a glowing blue ball, just before meeting him eye to eye he threw the energy ball at Sephiroth hitting him in the chest, he went spiraling backwards and Masamune flew from his hand. Kuja flew over to the falling sword and caught it. He smirked at the falling Sephiroth and flew back to his silver dragon, landing softly on its back, his wings disappearing. "Silver dragon, take us to the Desert Palace,"

"Tifa!" Cloud called out. "Wait up!"

"C'mon Cloud!" He ran to catch up to her, she was standing near the chocobo stable that held their golden chocobos. She was already getting ready to climb onto one. "Get Ketra and c'mon," Cloud quickly got out the chocobo and clamored onto it, Tifa was already out the door and he followed her. 

"Catch me if you can, Cloud!" She called playfully at him. He urged the chocobo to go faster to catch up with her. Soon the chocobos were running side by side. They reached a river and the chocobos stopped suddenly. "C'mon guys, you can cross this, right Cloud?" But Cloud's attention was directed at something further down the river, a girl kneeling on the shore. The girl was wearing a light pink dress and a red jacket, the figure had long brown hair braided down her back tied at the end by a piece of red cloth, she had brown boots and golden bracelets on each wrist. There was only one person this could be…

"AERIS!?!?!" Cloud called. The girl stood and turned, there was no mistaking it. Aeris Gainsborough stood there, thought to have been killed by Sephiroth two years ago. He jumped off the chocobo and ran to her.

"A-Aeris?" He said uncertainly. 

"I'm here Cloud…I knew you would come, Tifa came too…I'm so happy to see you both," Her voice had an eerie echo to it. Tifa came running.

"Aeris?"

"You must help me, you must go to Gaia,"

"What? Aeris, what do you mean?" Cloud questioned, unsure of what she was asking of them.

"You must go, if you don't, horrible things will happen," She pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.

"Of course we will Aeris," Tifa assured her, she tried to pat her back but her hand passed through Aeris.

"Tifa, we have to gather the old gang," Cloud said firmly.

"Yeah, let's go back to the Highwind. Aeris, can you come?" She asked gently.

"Yes, but you must hurry," She said faintly. They jumped back onto the chocobos and raced back to the chocobo farm and the Highwind docked there. Aeris awed at the Highwind. Tifa and Cloud raced inside. They found Cid in one of the chairs with his feet up, the captain's hat he had adopted over his eyes. 

"Cid! Wake up!" Cloud yelled at him. Cid fell from the chair.

"SHIT! What? What the hell'd you do that for Cloud!?" He yelled, getting up. 

"Cid, radio the others, we have an emergency,"

"Okay, okay," Cid walked over to the radio, putting his hat back on and got on the radio. "Only Red, Vincent, and Yuffie can come,"

"Tell them to get here as fast as they can,"

"Yeah, okay," After he told them he asked, "What's this big emergency we have on our hands?"

"Aeris told us to gather everyone and bring them here, she said if we don't go to 'Gaia' then we're all doomed,"

"Aeris is here!? How, when, why? Where is she?" 

"She's outside," Cid raced outside. "A-Aeris?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" Her voice had a stronger echo to it now. 

"I-it's really you?"

"Cid? Yes, it's me. It's beautiful," She said, admiring the Highwind.

"Isn't she? Come in, I can give you a quick tour," 

"I…can't…"

"Why not?" Cid asked, looking offended

"Don't be offended…but I can't go places I haven't been…I'm sorry,"

"How did you get here?"

"I… it's hard to explain," Cloud and Tifa came down the ladder. 

"They'll be here in about ten minutes," Tifa said.

"That's good," Aeris said, faintly. And true enough the others showed in ten minutes. All of them had grown very much in the last two years. Yuffie, having given up her materia nabbing, had become more of one with nature and less obnoxious. Red XIII had taken up the name he was born with and was now called Nanaki and started protecting the extent of Cosmo Canyon. Vincent hadn't changed much but started to forgive himself for the death of Lucretia. When all of them got there they were all amazed of Aeris's presence. Vincent, who was holding his gun, dropped it and the bullet flew though threw Aeris. 

He looked completely horrified. Aeris giggled, it sounded very strange with the echo in her voice. 

"It won't hurt me Vincent, I'm but a spirit," She sighed.

"How are you just a spirit? How did you get here? Why didn't you ever contact us before?" Cloud asked swiftly. 

"Cloud, as much as I would like to tell you all of that I need to get you to Gaia while my image lasts, you all need to go to Nibelhiem I'll meet you there," the image disappeared and they all got into the Highwind and flew to Nibelhiem. 

They saw her at the entrance of the city. "Only four may go to Gaia, the others must stay here," She confirmed. Everyone looked at each other; Nanaki, Vincent, Tifa and Cloud stepped forward. 

"We'll go," Cloud said. Yuffie and Cid started to head back to the Highwind. 

"Wait, you must see how to send them back," Aeris called, they walked back over. She led them all through the town to the mansion. The monsters didn't bother them either, perhaps because Aeris's spirit put a calming affect over them. She led them down the secret passage and to the arch of stone. She put her hand to it and it didn't pass through it. Drawing blood from her hand somehow, she spoke to the arch. 

"Holy gate, I call upon your powers

Allow me passage, I hold Cetra blood," The wall behind the arch once again dissipated into a bright green, revealing another world. "Bow to the arch before you pass or you will be held back! When you get there head to Alexandria!" Aeris called over the wind whipping around the cavern. Cloud went first. Bowing to the arch he hesitated then, with one last look back, seeing Aeris's spirit disappear he went through it. The others followed. They were being swirled around in a bright green column of light. Soon it was over and they fell into the world of Gaia.

"Is he okay?" Eiko asked, seeing Sephiroth. There was a drag path of where he had fallen; he was lying on his side the white wing on his right side over his face and most of his body. Zidane kneeled beside him and pulled the wing back from him, he saw that the shoulder pads were gone and his shoulders were cut and bloody. His cloak was torn and hung loosely on him and the chest straps had been destroyed. His wing covered the large gash in his arm and the feathers had very slight bloodstains on them. His face was all scratched up and caked with mud. 

"Sephiroth?" He asked uncertainly. Sephiroth started to open his eyes; he stared blankly at the sky. Zidane got him into a sitting position and the wings disappeared. 

"Will you be okay?" Eiko asked, breaking the silence. He looked at her as if he didn't know her. 

"Do you remember why you came?" Zidane asked. Again Sephiroth looked at him strangely. They decided that getting him to the castle was first priority. They got him on his feet and lead him to the castle of Alexandria. Queen Garnet was horrified when she saw him. 

"Will he be alright?" She asked very concerned.

"I think so," Zidane said. They had him in the guestroom again. Garnet went in to see him.

"Sephiroth, I think you should tell us your story so we can help you," He looked at her softly and nodded. _They're being_ _brought in by me, just like I knew they would. _He thought. She called all the others in to hear.

"I was in my hometown and a stranger visited. No one wanted anything to do with him. Soon he found that my grandfather's sword held great powers and wanted them for himself, he was very greedy. The man's name was Cloud Strife. He went crazy because he couldn't get the sword and started a fire in the town. My grandfather went to stop him and he killed him; the entire town was burned. I tried to do something but was too young. He took the sword and left, every since the town was rebuilt a few years ago I've been looking for it, and him," Garnet looked very saddened by the story. 

"I'm so sorry," She sympathized.

"It…was a long time ago," He said, trying to act depressed but sound brave. 

"Gang, I think we should help Sephiroth get the sword back from Kuja. It's the least we can do," They all nodded, Sephiroth hid his smirk. _I'll get them to get the sword and this Kuja person can kill them for me. By that time I'll be back in Terra with Masamune._

"Where are we?"Vincent asked, looking around at the surroundings. It wasn't much. 

"I think we should head that way," Nanaki looked in the way of a city. 

"That would probably be the best idea," Cloud said. He started to walk that way when Tifa stopped him. 

"Wait, Aeris gave me this before I went through. She said it would lead us to Alexandria, or at least the Queen," She held up a pearl coloured stone on a string. It had a black arrow in it pointing northeast. "I think we should go this way then," She pointed towards the town. "And get directions," She said, putting the necklace with the stone on it down her shirt. They all started in that general direction, having a very strange party. When they reached the city everyone looked strangely at them. 

"Excuse me…" Tifa said, walking up to someone. 

"Yes?" She asked, turning around. She was part cat and was wearing an emerald cloak that showed her shoulders but still covered her fully. She had white fur with dark gray stripes on her face, what you could see of her arms, and shoulders; her white hair hung loosely on her shoulders. Her cat ears stuck out from her hair. Tifa froze; she'd never seen someone like this before. Why were they here? How could they help? 

"Uh, um. W-where is Alexandria?" She asked, stuttering because she was kind of scared of the cat-girl. 

"This city is Alexandria."

"Where is the castle?"

"It's right down this road, if you keep following it it'll take you straight to it," She said, leaning down and pointing down the road. 

"Thank-you," Tifa said quickly, walking away. "Cloud, Nanaki, Vincent!" She called to the wandering others. They came over quickly, all glad to be back together again. "I found out where Alexandria is,"

"Where?" Nanaki asked, curious as ever.

"This is it, the castle is just right down this road." 

"Good, let's go," Cloud said, starting to walk in that direction. The others followed them. All the people still stayed away from them, mostly in fear of being hit with Nanaki's swinging, flaming tail. When they got to the gates before the harbor they saw the guards. "Let's just try to see if they'll let us through," Cloud said, trying to walk over casually to them. They confronted him. 

"Where're you going?" One of them asked. 

"Me and my friends need to go to the castle,"

"Why?" The other asked. 

"We have urgent news for her majesty,"

"What kind of news?" 

"It doesn't concern you," The guards looked at each other and were about to let them through when…

"Wait, where're you from? I've never seen clothes like yours before," The guard on the left asked.

"We're from. Chocobo's forest," Tifa volunteered. 

"What kind of news would you have from there?" They asked, unbelieving.

"Listen, this is urgent. If she doesn't hear us out you'll all be in grave danger," Nanaki said, walking up to them. 

"Too bad, flame pup. You have to be from someplace important with an actual reason to get in," They went back to their posts. Cloud and the others walked away. 

"We'll have to sneak in," Vincent said. 

"How? That'll be fairly hard. I took a look around and they have good security," 

"We'll just have to think about it. Let's go get a room to stay in, we'll talk about it there. I hope they take gil," They walked towards the pub to get a room and discus the possibilities of getting in the castle. 

"Please, we need to know what's going on. Tell us what happened that day in your village," Garnet begged Sephiroth. He was lying in a bed with bandages on him everywhere, arms, legs, stomach, and back. "I know you may not be feeling well but we need to know as soon as possible,"

"I'll tell you, take a seat." She took a seat in the chair next to the bed. All of the others sat in chairs or on the bed next to his. "It all started when this kid came to our village. He said that he wanted a room in the hotel for a week. From the moment he got there I knew he was trouble. While I was going up to the mako reactor on the mountain for the normal check up on it one day, I got the same feeling I got when he had first come to the village. I just knew something was going to happen. We get our power from mako reactors. Everything looked okay, but when I was checking the core I sensed trouble. Cloud appeared out of nowhere and attacked me. I wasn't able to fend him off; he knocked me out and left me for dead. When I came to, I got back to the village as fast as possible. I was too late. The village was burning. I saw him in the flames, killing people that had gotten out of the houses. I saw him kill my own father. It was horrible, almost everyone was dead, when he saw me and just walked into the flames… disappearing. I haven't seen him since that day. I knew that he had lost Masamune in the fire so I went to search for it. I soon found it had somehow come here. When I got to the weapons shop I had heard it was in, there was only a hole in the wood where it had been. I was so weak from coming here I'm surprised I made it to Alexandria. I guess it was just too much for me to bear and I collapsed. Next thing I knew I was in that room. Wondering where I was and how I had gotten there. Then it all came back when you came in. That's about all I know." He finished, everyone looked very interested. "Cetra is the people on Terra that ruled long ago. The ancient peoples of our planet. Very few are left to this day. I was one of the only living Cetra left that I knew of, that sword has been passed down in the line of Cetra. Like an heirloom."

"Thank-you. You better get some more rest, I'll be back a little later." She stood up to leave, the others, following her example, left as well. 

"So what are we gonna do?" Tifa asked in the room. They were all sitting in a chair or on the bed. All puzzled of what to do. 

"There's no other choice, we have to sneak in. I was looking around and if we can get on the roofs we could sneak in that way. That's all I can think of." Cloud finished.

"That's sounds like the best plan, but what about the guards?" Tifa asked. Cloud answered.

"We can just have our summons go around outside the castle for a little while. Who wouldn't be distracted by something they've never seen? I think that would be our best bet." 

"Let's go now so we'll have plenty of time," said Vincent with a glance at the darkening sky. They left the hotel, still getting dirty looks. The walked to a small alley and, after taking a quick glance around, Tifa casted float on herself. Nanaki and Vincent had already gotten up with their agility and she had already casted float on Cloud to get him up there. She got up without a problem. 

"I was wondering if you were planning something," a voice said from void of the rooftops. 

"Who's there?" Cloud called, getting into a fighting position. The others followed. 

"No need to be alarmed, I'm here to help," The voice said again. 

"Who sent you?" Cloud shouted, looking around for the foe.

"No need to yell," said the voice in his ear, it sounded soft and pleasant. He started to relax some. The same cloaked figure Tifa had asked for directions appeared with the hood of the cloak over her head. 

"You. What do you want?" Tifa asked.

"Only to help, Shiara at your service, green mage, thief, you name it I've probably done it. I can help you get into the castle but only so far as there, my magic is suppressed in the castle. You won't be able to get in without my help," She said, flashing a charming smile of white fangs. They agreed, for fear that they only had one chance and had to make it count. She led the way over the rooftops, jumping over holes as able as Nanaki or Vincent. Tifa and Cloud, having float still cast on them, floated over. They soon reached the castle wall and the cat-girl motioned them to lie in wait in the shadows. She walked up to the wall and held her hands a foot from the wall with her palms facing it. Her eyes, closed in concentration, were admitting a bright green light that soon illuminating the shadows. A wind picked up and blew through her hair and flapped her cloak. The guards came over to inspect the wall and the strange light. The greenness was concentrated into a ball that she shot at the wall, it glimmered bright green for a moment and then faded; the guards and everything on the wall froze. She put out her hand to give them a leg-up. The walked over to her and all climbed up, before Cloud went she stopped him.

"Here, this'll help. Hurry, I'm only giving you five minutes to get into the castle before I unfreeze them," She said, handing him a piece of paper.

"Thank-you, we're very grateful," He took it.

"Go!" She laughed, leaning against the wall. He climbed up the wall and found the others waiting for him. 

"What'd she have to say, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"She gave me this. We have to hurry she's only giving us five minutes to get inside before she unfreezes the wall." They climbed down the wall quickly on a ladder. They ran behind the other side of the wall that led into the castle, Vincent peered around the corner.

"Get out of view, guards coming," He said in a hushed whisper. They all crowded behind the wall, the guard passed without looking left nor right; they were safe for now. 

"Let's get inside while we can," Cloud said quietly to the others. Luckily the door was partly open, they all managed to get in without the door moving and giving them away. They crept down the hall, being careful to look around every corner. They soon heard a loud clanging. They all ran for the staircase, running up it as quietly as they could they ran through a doorway. All the talking in the room stopped. They had walked into the mess hall. Everyone was quiet for a second then… 

"Get 'em!" A captain called out. Everyone started to run at them; Cloud and the others ran back through the door shutting it behind them. They ran back down the stairs, running right into Steiner. They all got knocked down but quickly started to run while getting up and slipping. All of the Alexandrian soldiers and Pluto knights were casing them. They somehow got back to the staircase; even out of breath they took it at a run. The remains of the soldiers that were left in the mass hall were at the top of the stairs with the group that had been chasing them at the base. They slowly closed in on them. Everyone was looking for a way out but it seemed impossible.

"Cloud!" Vincent called out.

"Yeah?!" He replied, looking all around at the group of soldiers. 

"Take the others and leave! I'll deal with them!" He yelled over the commotion. 

"You sure!?" He called behind his back. 

"Just go!" Vincent called out to him. 

"I'll stay too! You have to complete our mission! Now go!" Nanaki called out, starting to run at the group at the top of stairs; clearing a path for Cloud and Tifa. Vincent started to hold back the group at the bottom. When they reached the top they used fire to keep them from following. Tifa and Cloud ran through a giant doorway, going through the center door they had entered the Queen's Chamber. 

"Who are you?" Garnet asked suspiciously.

"Are you the queen?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, what do you want?" She asked, standing to walk over to them. 

"You're in danger," Tifa gasped.

"From what? Or whom?" She asked, confuzzled.

"From a stranger of another world," Cloud confirmed. Garnet's eyes showed her concern. 

"Who are you?" 

"My name's Cloud Strife and this is Tifa Lockheart," He said, pointing to himself and Tifa.

"Where, may I ask, are you from?" she asked; now standing in front of him. Steiner burst in through the door. 

"Your Majesty! Get away from her, you fiend!" He yelled, running at Cloud. Tifa acted, she pulled out a small dagger and held it to Garnet's throat. 

"One move, Rusty. Just one," She said to him, her voice now merciless. "Back up," She said, backing up over towards the window. Steiner backed up slowly. Some guards burst in through the door.

"Sir?" They asked.

"Hold. Back away," He said calmly. 

"Cloud, get the window, here," She tossed a rolled up rope at him. He caught it and opening the window started to tie it to a metal loop on the window frame. 

"Tifa, ready," She backed up towards the window more. 

"I'm sorry we have to do this," She whispered to Garnet. "Cloud tie it around her." She said to him. He walked over to the window to get the rope when. THUD! He was at her feet. "Cloud? Cloud!?" Shoving the queen away from her she ran over to his limp form. "Cloud…?" She said, shaking him in her arms. WHOOSH, THUD! She hit the ground too. 

"What's going on here?" Garnet asked. 

"Your Majesty. You are in danger, I request we leave immediately," Steiner said.

"Thou ist not in danger. Thou ist not after thy skins," A voice said from the void. Suddenly Shiara appeared crouching on the windowsill. "I was protecting thou from these culprits. Tis bad manners to let the queen get killed. Shiara Emerald-Tear, green mage at your service, majesty," Jumping down she put one hand on her stomach and one on her back and bowed to the queen. "Tis a pleasure, majesty," 

"Um, thank-you. Do you know who these people are?" Garnet asked, curious if she had the same answer as Sephiroth.

"Aye, thou are criminals from," She paused. "Terra. Thy burned a village and killed many," 

"How do you know this?"

"'Twas my dearest friend's hometown. Meet him a few days ago. Best person I ever did know, if I say so my self," She said very confidently. 

"Who is this friend of yours?" Garnet asked, still curious.

"Thy name is… Sephiroth. Didn't catch thy last name. Very fine person, plenty of manners, looks, all the qualities in a wonderful mortal. Thou doest find him extraordinarily fortunate to be alive by the thought of what this boy did," She nodded at Cloud. 

"Yes. It seems that you wish to see your friend. It just so happens that he is here for the time being,"

"What? When did thou come here?"

"A few days ago he collapsed in the street and the guards brought him in because he looked suspicious,"

"Knew he wouldn't get too far. When he arrived, I found him in poor condition. Got his strength back and when thou could walk again set out for this place. While he was healing he told me thy story, very sad. Thou ist lucky he got here. Could I see him please?"

"Yes, a little later. Steiner?"

"Yes your majesty?" He asked, snapping to attention. 

"Would you help get these criminals to the dungeon?"

"At once!" He went over to Cloud and started to pick him up.

"Wait, I better get that one. Majesty, may I have your permission to put a spell on thy criminals?" Shiara asked her, holding her hand up to stop Steiner.

"Yes, please do," Garnet answered. She walked over to Cloud's limp body. Holding her palms out and closing her eyes again a green mist formed in her cupped hands. She blew the mist at Tifa and Cloud, they started to float and glow very faintly.

"Now thy can't use magic, Majesty. And thy will float to make it easier to get them down to thy dungeon,"

"Thank-you Shiara. Steiner, take them down with Shiara, would you?" Garnet asked.

"At once!" He said again. Shiara waved her hand at the bodies in a following motion and they floated over to her. 

"Led thy way, Captain Steiner," She said to him sweetly. He started to walk down the hall leading the way down the stairs and another set of stairs. He brought out a set of keys and opened one of the cell doors. Shiara put Cloud in the first one and once Steiner had opened another Tifa went into that one. She blew more of the mist on the bars that she had conjured up; they glowed bright green. They returned to the Queen's chamber in less than five minutes. 

"Majesty, I know I may sound rude but I wish to see him as soon as possible. Please, may we?" Shiara asked hopefully. 

"I don't suppose it will hurt," Garnet said, starting to lead the way out of the room to the guestroom. When they got there they saw Sephiroth was up and looking out of the window. He turned when he saw them enter, Shiara ran over to him. He put his left arm around her shoulders and she stood by his side; still by the window.

"Majesty, I must thank you for returning my cat-girl to me," Sephiroth said, looking at Shiara fondly. 

"It was her who came to us," Garnet smiled at the scene. 

"Thou ist lucky thou got here. I told you, but thy didn't listen to me," Shiara said, turning her head away from him. He turned her head back with his hand.

"Yes, you were right. I give you my apologies," He said softly.

"Thou ist forgiven," She said, hugging him. "Thy self missed thee. I'm glad to see thou ist well,"

"I'm getting there. How have you been, Shiara?" He asked, walking over to sit on the bed. She sat beside him.

"Thy self hast been searching for thou. Thee hasn't the time to worry of thy self's health. 'Twas only worried for thou. Where did thee get the idea to go to Alexandria?" She asked.

"Well, you told me that the queen was fair and just. I thought that she would help me. You were right; she is very kind and has promised to help me. I must thank you for telling me of her," He answered.

"Please, would thou queen leave? Thy wishes to talk to Sephiroth privately,"

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry, Steiner?" Garnet said, leaving the room. He followed after his queen. 

"That's better. Doest thou agree?"

"Yes, now. What happened, why did you come here?" Sephiroth asked.

"To help thee. Cloud came; thou made it seem like thy self wanted to help him. In short: froze guards, they got in, got captured, and are now in the dungeon. Did thou do a good job?"

"Yes, I can use this to my advantage. Now he looks more of a criminal, sneaking in. That is what you must say when they question you. They must be very powerful to have gotten in. Do you understand?"

"Aye, thy does. When doest thou put plan into action?"

"As soon as they ask you. Go now, I need to get these wounds healed,"

"Aye, luck be with you, sire," She said, leaving.

"Cloud!? Cloud, are you there!?" Tifa called from her cell, trying desperately to see out the cell door without being shocked. The mist that Shiara had blown on the bars shocked them when they touched it. The cold, wet floor roused Cloud.

"Man, what the hell was I hit with?" He asked himself, rubbing the back of his head. He stood up and looked around. "And why an I in a dungeon, man, I don't remember anything. What the hell happened!?" He yelled to let out his anger. 

"So you don't remember either…" He heard Tifa say. 

"Tifa, you're there!?" He called out.

"I can hear you just fine,"

"Where're the others?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen them since we split up,"

"Great," Cloud sighed. 

"Don't give up Cloud, we'll find them…eventually," Tifa sighed too. It all seemed hopeless. With this spell on the bars they had no hope of escape. 

"If you have a master scheme in mind it'd be really nice right about now," Cloud said to her.

"What? Me? I'm working on beginning schemes. You're the one at the master level," she giggled.

"Yeah, uh-huh. If only Nanaki was here…" He sighed again.

"If only…" They saw someone in a cape enter the room, because of the dense light they couldn't see the face. The stranger was fully covered, all but her shoulders and up. The person walked over to Cloud's cell. He could now see it was Shiara. 

"You. You betrayed us! Now I remember! Tifa, you gotta remember!" He yelled at her. She seemed distracted by something.

"Thy girl canst hear thou calls," She smirked. She pulled out a necklace from under her cloak. It was a silver dragon curling around an emerald crystal. "Neither will thou hear hers when thy self is done…" She said, an icy tone to her voice. She set the necklace in her hands, closing her eyes it started to glow brightly. It was suspended in air; the dragon came as though to life, unwrapping itself it bolted towards him. He tried to swat at it but the creature was too quick. 

"Ack! Get away!" Cloud called out. 

"And thou gave your little girlfriend a present too. Thou heard she was very fond of snakes," Her voice was icy as she laughed, seeming to enjoy their pain. To the guard it looked as though they were going mad. 

"Hey, someone get down here! The prisoners are whack!" The guard shouted up the steps.

"Oh well. That's my que. And thou was having much fun, too bad...later, pretty boy," She reached her hand through the bars to stroke his face with her hand, she then became invisible as she pulled her hand back from within the cell. The dragon disappeared for the moment that she touched him. The instant she pulled hand back out the dragon came back in. 

"No, get away…" He said, exhausted by her touch he fell to the hard floor of the cell. She walked over to Tifa's cell. 

"And you, perhaps Sephiroth will let thou be thy pet. Enjoy your freedom, what freedom it is for now. Have a good sleep, my dear…" She did the same, stroking her cheek Tifa fell to the floor. The dragon and snake returned to the necklaces they were cast from. Leaving the sleeping in what peace they had for now.

"Thou did as thou instructed, sire," Shiara said to Sephiroth, kneeling before him as though he were a king. 

"Good, the guards saw, correct?" He asked, lying on the bed comfortably. 

"Yes sire, they saw. Sire, might thou ask what good this shall do?" She said, slightly raising her head from the kneeling position. 

"You may rise, come my kitten. Sit here by me and I will tell you what of the plan," He said, patting a spot on the bed by him and halfway smiling.

"Thank-you sire," She said, rising and walking over to the space he indicated. She sat down cautiously. Well aware that his expression had changed for the half smile had disappeared to narrowed eyes. 

"What, have I told you of my plans?" He said, putting his arm on her shoulder.

"Only what thou wishes for thou to know of them, sire," She said, rather softly.

"That's correct. Now, should you have asked that?" He asked, squeezing her shoulder with his hand.

"N-no, sire. Please forgive thy incompetence. Thou ist sorry," She said, trying to keep a level voice but still wincing some. 

"Very good, you'll make a good follower. Fear is the best way to control someone. Now, go and find more to bid by my commands." He said, taking the pressure off of her shoulder.

"Sire?" She asked, uncertainly.

"Go and find more like yourself. More followers!" He said angrily.

"Thy shall, sire. I take my leave now and will make haste," She said, jumping off of the bed and backing off through the door. 

_Now, where might thou find followers? Hmmm…thou will try at the pub. _She said, out in the hallway of the room she pulled her hood back up and became invisible once again. Walking to the entrance hall she passed through the door. Holding her hands as if she were praying she closed her eyes. Suddenly emerald wings burst forth from her back, she fell to the ground. Shaking her head slightly she took air. Flying over the castle walls she speed towards the pub. Landing lightly she folded her wings under the cloak and stepped in. Everyone watched the hooded stranger walk to the bar and order a drink, soon as they saw she was like anyone else they went back to their games, conversations and drinks. She casually walked over to a group of girls, two cat-girls, one gecko-girl, and a snake-girl. They were playing a game of cards. 

"Can thou join?" She asked them at the end of a game. What appeared to be the dealer looked at her strange.

"What?" She asked, confuzzled.

"May I join, your game?" She said more clearly.

"Yeah, 'suppose. What you girls think?" They all nodded. Shiara sat down at the table. Almost all of the people in the pub walked over to see the strange talker play. She was dealt five cards; they were playing poker. "Okay, aces, duces, one-eyed faces. Let's play," Shiara had gotten an one-eyed queen of hearts, one four of hearts, one eight of diamonds, an ace of hearts and a jack of clubs. The takes were going around, they eventually got to her. 

"Three," She said, flinging her four, eight, and jack face down. Little had they known but that was also a spell she had cast. She received a king of hearts, jack of hearts and a ten of hearts; it seemed that the spell had worked to give her a royal flush. She smirked under her hood, now she would win. They started the bids.

"You pass or bid, stranger?" 

"Thou shall bid. Thou bids that if thou wins, then thy shall all come with thou someplace that will make thee rich. Any takers?" 

"I'll sssee you and raissse you… one thousssand gil," The snake-girl said, pushing a giant pile of money into the center of the table. Shiara untied a bag from her belt. Placing it on the table she said,

"Thou sees you," 

"What'da ya got then?" Laying down her cards Shiara said,

"Royal flush, hearts. Beat that," Thought they couldn't see the stranger she could feel the smirk under the hood. Throwing down her cards and standing up she said,

"Alright, you won fair and sssquare, now lead usss to thisss place you told usss of,"

"Follow thou…" Shiara said mysteriously. The snake-girl and both of the cat-girls followed her to an alley. "Step over here," They did as she said, she blew some powder on them. "Let's go,"

"Where are we going?" Asked one of the cat-girls. She was a leopard breed; she had on a tight red "dress" with fur around her wrists, shoulders and ankles. She wore no shoes; her tail was whipping around and her golden hair flying in the slight breeze. The other one looked just like her but a bit taller and with silver locks. They both had the big ears unique to cat-girls. 

"Where thou tells you to," Shiara said harshly. 

"Leave my sister alone, she never wanted to come!" The other leopard shouted at her.

"If thy sister didn't want to come then why did thee?! If thou wants to go back she is free to," Shiara said, waving her hand behind her.

"It's okay sis. I want to come," The other said quietly.

"What are thy names?"

"I'm Eve, and this is Rosemary," Said the silver haired one. 

"You snakelet. What ist thou name?"

"Iresh,"

"Sire will like all of you, now come," Shiara said, continuing down the alley. She led them to the back of Alexandria castle. She walked up to the wall and passed through it. Sticking her head back through she called at them,

"Are any of thou coming?" They all looked at each other strange but them shrugged their shoulders and passed through the wall too. 

"How did we do that?" Rosemary the golden twin asked.

"Magic, come with me. Thou magic ist as strong inside the castle, make haste and don't run into the guards, thou may be invisible but you're still somewhat solid," She trotted through the doors and hallways with them behind her. They were as quiet as she was, if they could be trained then they would make good mages; Sephiroth would be pleased. They soon stopped outside his door. Shiara knocked three times. 

"Enter," They heard from within. Upon entering Shiara told them to kneel before the master. They did as told while Shiara closed the door; she soon kneeled infront of them.

"Sire, these were what thou found. They have potential if trained right. Ist thou pleased?" She asked, not once looking up.

"Rise, all of you," They all rose and stood stiffly. "Relax, I'm not an army general," They relaxed some, still trying to look as if they had what it takes. Standing up he walked around them; they kept eyes to the front. Once he almost fell from still being somewhat weak and Shiara helped him back over to the bed to sit.

"Don't overstrain thou self, sire," Shiara said, leaning over beside him. 

"I'm fine. Do you all pledge your very souls to my cause?" After a bit of looking at each other they answered.

"Yes, sire!" They said at once. He nodded, satisfied.

"Repeat after thyself. I pledge my life and soul to the cause," Shiara recited.

"I pledge my life and soul to the cause,"

"I will give thy life for the master,"

"I will give thy life for the master,"

"No matter the cost I will do it for thou master,"

"No matter the cost I will do it for thou master,"

"I seal this with my own blood,"

"I seal this with my own blood," Shiara pulled a dagger from it's sheath on her leg belt under the cloak. Walking over to them she said,

"Hold out thy hand," Reluctantly they did as told. Pricking each of them on the finger she held out a piece of paper. "Press thy finger to it," They did, magically the blood curled into their signature. Shiara passed the paper to Sephiroth. "Ist thou satisfied?"

"Yes, train them starting tomorrow. How long did it take for you to become strong?"

"About a month, sire," She said, knowing what he would say.

"Then you have a week," he decided. 

"But, sire, if they over strain thy powers-" Shiara started.

"I'm well aware of that. Just do what you can with them, dismissed," He said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, sire," Shiara said, leading the girls from the room. She led them to where she was staying, because the room was so big they could all sleep there.

"I demand to see the queen! She's in danger!" Cloud shouted, rattling the shackles that restrained him. 

"Cloud, it's no use. They don't listen…" Tifa said, her wrists were starting to look like they might fall off, and she seemed too tired to do anything, she always just hung her head with all hope gone.

"Tifa, we can't give up. If we do them Sephiroth will have won, you can't let your father have died in vain,"

"Don't talk about my father Cloud! Just leave me alone," Tifa said weakly. They heard footsteps on the stairs, soon a young lady was in view, and even Tifa raised her head to see the lady approach them through the shadows. 

"I heard you wished to see the queen…what does this concern?" She asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe what I've been yelling for the last hour, the safety of your world!" Cloud yelled at her.

"Why did you come to Alexandria then? Why not Lindblum?" She asked, stepping into the dim light of the dungeon. 

"Why should we tell you? Of what importance are you to the Alexandrian kingdom?" Tifa asked, her head still down. 

"I am General Beatrix of the Alexandrian guards. Her queen's trusted advisor and friend. She has sent me down here to see what you have to say,"

"What proof do we have of this? Does your queen expect us to just take the word of someone?" Tifa asked. 

"If you can not trust the word of our queen then who's can you trust?" Beatrix asked, raising her eyebrows. 

"Fine, we'll tell you, but we want the queen to hear as well. If she is not present then you will hear nothing," Tifa finished.

"Tifa, just drop it!" Cloud yelled at her. Beatrix paused for a moment, clearly thinking over the request.

"Fine, I will be back with the queen in a moment," Beatrix said, leaving back up the steps. True enough she was back in a few minutes with Garnet trailing behind her. 

"The queen is here, now tell us what you have to say," Beatrix said upon entering.

"One of our friends, her name was Aeris-"

"Was? What nonsense is this?" Beatrix asked, bewildered.

"Sephiroth killed her, she was Cetra. Her spirit came back to warn us, she led us her through the holy gate. She said that if we told the queen of Alexandria this then she would help us, so will you help us defeat Sephiroth?"

"What is Cetra?" Garnet asked, stepping forward to them. Beatrix opened her mouth to say something but Garnet held up her hand for silence. "Go on,"

"Cetra was the ancient race of people that inhabited the galaxy, they found a planet, made it livable, left some of they're own to monitor and went to the next planet," Cloud said. Garnet summed it all up in her mind; it seemed more likely that Sephiroth was telling the truth, it seemed more likely that Cetra were an ancient people of Terra. 

"I'm very sorry, but I have no reason to believe you…" Garnet said, quickly retreating up the stairs. 

"Please don't be too hard on her. You _were_ the ones that snuck into the castle in the first place," Beatrix said, following Garnet back up the stairs. Now all hope was lost for Tifa and Cloud, their friends gone, they were being charged with being crazy, how could it possibly work out? 

__

How can I train them in only a week? Shiara though to herself, _but them Sephiroth _did_ train me in only a week's time. Maybe I can remember…_

Flashback

"Sir, are thou awake?" A voice out of the void asked.

"Who- who's there?" The man asked uncertainly.

"My name is Shiara Emerald-Tear, green mage and healer. Are you feeling better?" A girl of 17 stepped into the dim light cast from a candle in the dark room. There was someting strange about her, even with his blurry vision Sephiroth could tell there was something different about her. She practically gleamed white, even in the darkness of the room. 

"What are you?" He asked. 

"What doest thou mean? You've never seen a cat-girl before? Where in thy world art thou from?" She said, checking his head for a fever. 

"I'm fine. I… just couldn't remember. Please forgive my intrusion of your village. I'll leave if you wish,"

"No, no, thou ist forgiven, thou can stay here as long as thou wants. Take this, it will make thy fever go down," She said, handing him a pill and a glass of water. He took it. _This girl could fit into my plans, if I can only convince her of a better life. Hmmm…_ Sephiroth thought _I could use someone with magic on my side and she seems to find life here boring, this could work perfectly. _

"I've never heard of a green mage before, what powers do you have?" Sephiroth asked, curiously.

"Oh, me? Thou only has powers enough to please thy children. Thou hasn't really worked with thou powers to become strong," Shiara said, staring out the window to the moons.

"I could train you. I've trained many before and they turned out to be very powerful. What do you say?" He asked, closing his eyes. 

"Really? That would be wonderful. I've always wanted to see what I could really do!" She said, just by the tone of her voice Sephiroth could tell she would do almost anything to improve her powers. 

"Yes, you would have to do me a favor though,"

"What?"

"I only ask that you guide me to the kingdom of Alexandria. On the way I will train you. What do you say to that?"

"Oh, yes, sir! Um, what ist thou name?" She asked, giggling some.

"My name is Sephiroth. But I would prefer for you to call me sir or sire while I am training you. It makes it more, professional,"

"Okay! Er, yes, sire," She said, giggling. "You better rest now, I'll get into trouble if they knew I was talking to you while you aren't fully healed yet," She said, leaving the room.

__

That next day was as strange and as surprising as the last…

"You feeling better today?" Shiara asked, coming into the room the next day. 

"Yes, I think I'll be ready to leave today, I got into a nasty battle while I was getting over a cold. I feel very much better though, would you be ready to leave today?"

"Um, yes. I suppose I could leave today, when do you plan to leave?" Shiara asked. 

"In the afternoon, I subjest you pack only what you need, if we're going to travel to Alexandria and train it will take a few months," 

"I understand, I'll be ready to go in a few minutes. I'll be right back," Shiara left in a hurry and was back in ten minutes with a duffel bag over her shoulder and a green cloak that revealed her shoulders. Her white hair was held back by a silver tiara with an emerald on the top of it. Sephiroth could now see she had dark gray stripes on her face, shoulders and arms. He sat up and got onto his feet, stretching some he got his feet back. 

"Would you mind if we left now?" Sephiroth asked.

"Uh, no, I guess not, could I say good-bye to my parents?" 

"Yes, but hurry," Sephiroth said, starting to walk out the door. He saw her hugging her mum and dad, he turned away quickly towards an arch. He leaned against it, waiting for her. 

"Okay, thou ist ready to go," She said, running over to him.

"Why don't you go scoot ahead, I'll be there in a little while,"

"Okay," Shiara said, running off ahead. _It's unfair, why should she have people that care about her? Why wasn't I as fortunate? Of course, I can fix this little problem…_ Sephiroth walked casually over the nearest house and set fire to it, continuing this until half of the village was burning. 

"What're you doing!?" Someone yelled running over him, Sephiroth swatted at him like he was a pest. Shiara heard the agonizing screams, she ran back over the hill to see the village burning and Sephiroth killing her best friend. Tears streaming down her cheeks she ran from the scene. Sephiroth turned around at that moment and saw the green cloak. _She's retreating_ he thought. _What a weak little fool…_

I couldn't believe what he had done, I tried to tell myself that it had been someone else but there was no denying it…I wished I'd never meet him…

Even after the village was burned Shiara continued to follow Sephiroth. Trying to forgive him for what he had done she tried to imagine it had been someone else, but there was no denying the facts. Sephiroth had burned her village and killed all of the people in

it. But she still followed, determined to overcome her grief and become strong. One night at the fire she asked him, staring straight at the fire.

"Why did you burn the village?" He didn't respond. She turned her head to see he was also staring at the fire. "Why, why did you kill all my friends and family!?" She yelled at him. Jumping onto him she started to pound his chest, he took her by the wrists and held her close to him. She cried and cried, all the while he was stroking her hair and whispering, "Shhhh…" 

__

When I learned more about him I felt sorry for him, I didn't really need my family, now all that meant anything to me was Sephiroth…

Soon Shiara found of about his past and the fact that he was jealous of the fact that she had had people that cared about her and he wasn't fortunate enough to have that. As the training continued Sephiroth repeatedly told her that fear was the best way to control someone, and he knew how to in force it. Whenever Shiara displeased him she was beat. The gentle kindness that was once in her eyes gave way to cruelty, misery, and obedience. After only a week's time Sephiroth though she could now learn to fly. 

"But keep in mind I hold the key to your cage, try to escape and the bars of the cage will hold you," Sephiroth always made it clear that he was now her master. If she tried to escape from him she would pay for it with her life. After she could fly as well as

he they had much fun together, even if they didn't realize it. They dove off of cliffs, performing tricks and flying back up before they hit water. 

"Let me show you how to do a double front with a triple twist," Sephiroth said, taking a running start he jumped off and did the double front flip but in the last twist he hit the water. Shiara laughed out loud, shedding her cloak to have more agility she performed the trick and hovered above him.

"I've never seen that one before, what was it called again? Total Screw Up?" She laughed again, Sephiroth jumped out of the water and grabbed her ankle, pulling her back in with him. 

"How do you like that trick?" Sephiroth asked, smirking at her. 

"Very impressive, you can grab onto things…" Shiara laughed again. 

"Very funny, come on. We can get some more travel done before nightfall," Sephiroth said, climbing out onto the beach. After drying his wings he flew back up the cliff, Shiara soon followed. 

__

I soon got comfortable enough to play for him too, I think he liked it because he never stopped me playing but always listened contently, even to my singing…

It was late in the night, Shiara thought Sephiroth was asleep but he too was lying awake. Getting up from the warm sand she brought out a shiny little brown case; setting it on the ground she pulled out her wood flute. It was tan in colour and at the end of it a was a dragon's head with an open mouth for the air to come out of. Checking that Sephiroth was still asleep, or what she thought was asleep, she put it up it her lips and started to play a fairly fast tune. Starting to get the feel back for it she closed her eyes, upon opening them again she saw Sephiroth sitting up and watching her play, she took down the flute. 

"T-thou ist sorry," She said, looking down at the ground. 

"No, please." He waved his hand for her to continue. She was a bit confuzzled but picked up where she had left off. He watched her contently. The song she was playing was one she used to sing to in her village around the bonfire dances so she started to hum what she could of the tune. Sephiroth still watched her, until she was finished.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" He asked, looking at her putting away the flute.

"In thy village, one of the burdens of thou family, being Celtic decent, was being able to play thy penny whistle, flute, fiddle, sing or dance for our bonfire dances. Thou also had me sing, because thou could match the pitch of the notes. Thy mother and father meet at the bonfire, villagers say it was romantic, they danced all night. Am I boring you?" She asked, looking over to him after putting away the silver instrument.

"You play very well," He said, lying back down in the cooling sand. 

"Thou thanks you," She said, putting her case back in her bag, she lay down also. "Good-night," He didn't respond. _This is getting more complicated than I thought. Why was she playing that? Surely there must have been a logical reason…she can play well though…_He thought. 

__

After that I always played or sang before we laid to rest for the night, I so loved those times, and miss them…

Present

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" Rosemary asked, tapping Shiara on the shoulder. 

"Thou ist fine, what art thou still doing about here!? Thou thought you were told to go do something!" She snapped at them.

"Uh, no ma'am. You just stood there for about ten minutes, you looked very distant, we just wondered if you were okay," Rosemary said, backing off to stand by her sister. 

"Thou ist fine, follow me down to thy cliffs," she said, walking out the door and down the hallways. When they got to the cliffs near the boundaries of Alexandria she lined them up along the edge. "Now, you begin thy training, you will do everything I say when I say to," She paused, walking up and down the line of them. "Every person has a magic inside of them, thy person just has to have the will, determination, and strength to summon it. Look deep inside thouselves, you have always had a magic. Now you must find it. Close your eyes, you will feel a wave of warmth course through you, then you have found the magic of your heritage." They all closed their eyes and looked deep inside their hearts, the magic of a thousand years were brought out in the single second when they found the warmth, their soul, and the magic passed down to them by the ancestors long past. 

Around Eve a bright white light glowed, she was engulfed by it, when it cleared her ragged clothes were replaced by a shimmering white cloak that flickered silver in the sun. It was much like Shiara's, very long and concealing. On the golden border of the cloak diamonds glimmered. 

"What ist thou surname?" Shiara asked her.

"Breeze," She replied. 

"Thou are to be called Eve Diamond-Breeze. Control the winds of Gaia thou does. Thou has had enough training for today, retire to thy room and rest. Thou others must still work. Keep searching you two." Shiara said, leading the silver sister inside to Sephiroth's quarters. Again she knocked three times, no answer. She tried again, still no answer. 

"Sire, are thou in there?" Shiara called, still no answer. This wasn't like him, why wasn't he answering. She slowly opened the door, whisking over to the bed she saw him lying there, eyes closed and breathing weak. "Sire? Ist thou alright?" She nudged him with her hand slightly. He didn't move. She felt around his hand for a pulse, she could feel it slightly, it was fading. "Get the closest guard and tell them to get someone in here! Make haste!" She yelled at Eve as she summoned some of her magic to try and help, it seemed to be holding him. He was fighting for his life, and it seemed he was losing the great battle. "Hold on, Sephiroth, just hold on, please." She said, tears starting to form in her eyes. She held his hand until Garnet and a healer got there. Garnet watched as the healer cast the white magic to help him. His pulse slowly steadied. 

"He'll be fine, come Shiara. Let him rest," Garnet said, putting her arm around her shoulders and starting to led Shiara out of the room. 

"No, thou will stay with thy master, please majesty. Let me stay, thou will watch him," She said, pulling free of Garnet's grasp to kneel beside the bed. One of the guards moved to pull her out but Garnet shook her head.

"Let her be," She said, leaving the room with all of the rest. Shiara pulled from a pocket in the cloak a little brown case; she pulled the ancient instrument out of it. Putting it to her lips she said before she started to play,

"They always said music has special powers, let's give it a try," She played the song of an ancient city called Fanelia. Over and over, the music never ceased till night when she slept by his side. In the morning she sang to him and played. Never leaving his side, not even eating. Two days later when he became conscious again she was the first thing he saw, she was lying on the bed beside him with the flute still in her open hand. While the other was on his stomach, it had a faint green light illuminating it. The exhaustion had finally overcome her. Sighing he put his arm around her shoulder as she slept on. 

__

Where am I?

Here…

Where is here?

Without…mast-

What?

…

Tell me!

…

The terrain was all of a sudden clear. It was a village, but where was it? There were many people like her walking around. Furrys and gjinkas, even some humans. _Where could this be?_ She heard music; it was the song of Fanelia. _Am I supposed to be in Fanelia? How can this be? _She saw a figure in a black cloak, silver hair down his back. _It must be Sephiroth!_ She ran towards him.

"Sire!" He didn't turn around; she prodded him in the back. The man turned around, he had changed; it was a man with long blonde hair and a blue cloak.

"Can I help you?" He asked, bending down to her height. 

"N-no, thou ist sorry," Shiara said, backing away. The village faded. She had a sudden loneliness about her, she was alone. No one was there; she was all alone and lost. Suddenly she was drowning in a flood of water. "Help!" She screamed. No one to hear her cries. She saw a shadow over the water but it faded, he was gone. "No!"

"No!" She screamed. She snapped awake, soaked by a cold sweat. Looking over to her right side she saw the sleeping Sephiroth, his arm had moved, does this mean that he had woken earlier? She felt his arm, his pulse was steady, he was all right. She cuddled closer to him. _He's okay, he's okay…_She thought before drifting off to sleep again. 

"So, what was all the screaming about last night?" Sephiroth asked when she awoke the next morning.

"It, was nothing." She said, getting off the bed, he grabbed her wrist.

"I'll decide on that, tell me," He pulled her back to sit. 

"Well, I-I dreamed that… that I, had lost you and was all alone. It really scared me," She finished, getting back up. Sephiroth let her wrist slip from his grasp. "Thou is very glad you are okay, what happened?"

"I was almost gone, but your song lead me back. What's the update?" He asked.

"I had come to tell you that Eve, thy silver twin, gained powers of wind. Her sister yesterday gained fire powers and the snakelet can't be trusted so was sent her on her way earlier. The queen is planing an attack on Kuja. And a few days ago they captured, Cloud and his friends," Sephiroth's eyes now burned with an old flame of vengeance. 

"Where are they?" He asked.

"In, thy dungeon. Thou subjest that you talk to thy queen before you…" But Sephiroth was already getting up. "Please sire, thou is still ill, you must take heed. Please sire, you have naught the strength for it," She pleaded grabbing his arm, he flung her to the side. She got back up quickly and stood in the doorway. "Please, Sephiroth. Thou cares care about your well being, you must listen to my words!" She urged him. 

"Out of the way, I will hurt you if I have to. I have old business with him," Sephiroth said, his eyes bright. 

"No! Thou may have sworn fealty to thee but I won't let you get hurt!" She cried, tears forming in her eyes. He was almost touched, but no, he had to get rid of Cloud once and for all. Pushing her out of the way he walked out the door towards the dungeon. Shiara stepped out of the room, closing her eyes she whispered, 

"Thou is sorry," And shot a bright green ball of energy at his back. In his weak state it knocked him to the ground. Rushing over to him she held his head upon her knee. 

"Please forgive me, I couldn't let you get hurt," She said, stroking his silver hair. Calling the twins they got him back into the room. 

"Hey you, wake up!" They yelled, poking her. Her eyes slowly opened to meet the face of the guards. 

"What do you want?" Tifa asked, quietly. They began to tie chains around her wrists and torso. Leading her up the stairs they told her.

"Her majesty wants you to meet someone," They knocked on the door. 

"Come in," they heard Garnet say, upon opening the door Tifa didn't, couldn't move. There he was, standing by the window. The same silver hair, black cloak and mako eyes she had seen kill her father and burn the town so very long ago. After freezing for the brief moment she lunged at him.

"I'll kill you! Let me go! I'll kill him!" She screamed; he had almost a puzzled look on his face. The guards grabbed the chains around her torso and held her back, they tied her to a chair. She glared at him with a hate filled gaze. 

"You know this man?" Garnet asked her.

"He's more of a monster than a man but yes." Tifa replied. Garnet looked shocked. "He normally doesn't seem all that bad to people he can benefit from," she added.

"I suppose. What did he do to make you hate him so much?" 

"He burned our hometown and killed my father. Surely you can remember one person you killed, can't you?" She said in a mocking tone. Sephiroth turned his head to look out the window, Shiara walked over beside him. They had a whispering conversation. At times Tifa could hear them say "Cloud". Shiara walked over to Garnet and talked to her. Garnet waved her hand at Tifa and then guards brought her back down to the dungeon and brought back up Cloud in her place. Like Tifa, he too froze for a split second then lunged at him. But this time the guards couldn't hold him. He was coming at Sephiroth in full force, but before he hit him Shiara jumped in and enchanted the chains to hold him to the chair. Gritting his teeth Cloud gave Sephiroth the same look that Tifa had, but with more hate in it if possible. 

"Why's he here?" Cloud asked the queen; not moving his gaze from Sephiroth. 

"He came to us for help, such as you did," She replied calmly. 

"What'd he want? Did he ask if he could destroy the planet this time?" Cloud scoffed.

"No, he asked us for help against you," This time Cloud did look at her, very puzzled. "And since he didn't try and kidnap me or sneak into the castle, I listened. His story sounds much more likely than yours,"

"I see you're one to judge on first impressions," He sighed. "What makes you so sure he's telling the truth?"

"He was very kind to us, the way he described your actions fits you perfectly. Yours to him do not, however. His story is very likely and he has someone who can back him up, someone from _this_ world," She motioned to Shiara. 

"Well we have only been here for a few days, how can you expect us to make friends? We had other matters more pressing," Cloud said, trying to stay calm. 

"Well maybe you should have, we have nothing to go on. I'm very sorry, but you can still help us. Even though you will have to work with us, all of us, we will still let you help. As you may or may not have known, Sephiroth's sword was lost long ago, our old foe, Kuja, was the thief. We plan to help him retrieve it before Kuja tries to destroy the planet with it. He, had a mid life crisis five years ago where he tried to destroy the planet, apparently you can have two in a lifetime…"

"What she's trying to say is that we're going to help him get it back, you can help or not. It's up to you…" Zidane explained. 

"Where are my comrades?" Cloud asked.

"I'm sorry to say that one of them died of injuries after we received them. He told us to tell you to do what it takes, that's all,"

"What!? Who died?!"

"The mysterious man, I believe your friend called him Vincent," Cloud bowed his head, thinking it all through. _If I did team up with them then I could eventually kill Sephiroth but…_

"I have to talk to Tifa and Nanaki," He said, looking back up.

"We'll bring them up," Some of the guards left to retrieve them, they were soon by Cloud and he was relieved of the restraints. "Do not try to hurt Sephiroth, if you do then we will have to imprison you again," Garnet said to them as they were glaring at Sephiroth. Turning away them crowded together.

"We have two choices, help them get back Masamune from this Kuja guy or remain imprisoned. What do you guys think?" 

"We never should have come here…" Tifa sighed.

"No, we shouldn't have but we're here now so we have to make a choice, what do you think Nanaki?" Cloud asked, looking over towards him.

"I think that even though we would be helping Sephiroth that we should help them, atleast we won't stand around doing nothing." He finished. 

"I agree, we'll know that we tried. Even if we fail." Cloud said.

"I guess I'll agree with you guys, we'll do it for Vincent." She said, bowing her head.

"Yeah, you guys. For Vincent," Cloud said, putting his hand in the middle of the group. Tifa put hers on top.

"For Vincent," She repeated.

"For everyone," Nanaki said, putting his paw on Tifa's hand. Cloud turned around.

"We'll help," Cloud said. Garnet nodded.

"I was hoping you would say that, Beatrix,"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Please give them a set of the plans,"

"At once," She walked over to a table with some papers on it, getting a rolled up piece of paper she walked over it to them. "Follow me." She said, walking out through the door and leading them to another guestroom. "You'll stay here, we'll get you in the morning," She said, giving the paper to Tifa as she left. 

"Sire, do you think that thou foes will be of much help to thy plans?" Shiara asked Sephiroth when the room was deserted.

"If Cloud gets killed that would, but other wise I don't think so." He said, looking at her.

"Understood, but Sire, what will thou do once thee gets Masamune back?" Shiara asked, afraid of the answer.

"I'm not quite sure, but I'll probably do what I tried to do five years ago. Join the lifestream to become a god. But I'll go about it in the right manner this time," 

"How will thee get back to Terra?"

"The same way I came, through the Holy Gate."

"W-will thee take thou with you?" She asked, looking away from him. He looked at her. 

"I haven't decided yet. Why?" 

"Thou was just wondering," She said, shrugging. Taking out her wooden flute she played the ancient song of the long gone Fanelia. He sighed, _why should he take her with him? She may have helped him but did that give her the right to live with the few that would? Perhaps…_

Long after Sephiroth had fallen asleep Shiara was still awake and pacing the room. These visions she kept having, what could they mean? It had always been the same since Sephiroth had come. She was surrounded by darkness, to her right she saw Sephiroth in full glory, wings spread, hair flying, cloak trailing his every move. He glanced at her, a flicker of silver then he fell, into the darkness, she leapt to save him. She pushed him back but fell into the darkness herself. She awoke in a cold sweat, hearing the words in her mind, though she had had foretelling dreams previously they were never this intense before. Sephiroth had been speaking to her, even though she knew what he was saying it was hard to believe. 

"The finis est prope, mors claudére en, the finis est prope, Veni veni venias, Ne me mori facias, Ave formosissima, gemma pretiosa, Ne me mori facias. " (For those of you that don't know Latin: The end is near, death is closing in, the end is near, come, come, O come, do not let me die, hail, most beautiful one, precious jewel, do not let me die). 

"What is this? I think I'm just loosing it." She glanced over at Sephiroth, sleeping peacefully. "Well, as long as he lives thou life is worth sacrificing, only for him." 

"So what does it say Tifa?" Nanaki asked. Tifa unrolled the paper and read it silently. 

"Basically we storm this Kujas Desert Palace. If we're lucky he'll be there and we'll get him."

"Well, that sounds like the best plan in the world. Charge his would-be base, _hope_ it's there and _hope_ to get in and out. Perfect," Cloud commented sarcastically. 

"Well, we can't exactly interfere. They already have it set up. We'll just do what we can to help." Tifa tried to be optimistic.

"Why don't we sleep on it. That's about all we can do tonight." Nanaki said, lying on the floor. 

"Fine," Cloud sighed. Tifa nodded.

"Beatrix," Garnet asked.

"Yes, your majesty?" Beatrix inquired, coming to her side. 

"Do you really think Sephiroth can be trusted? I am beginning to wonder."

"Majesty, you have always followed your heart. About the journey five years ago, your mother, and Zidane. You have good instincts, just follow them. You know no matter what you say we will follow you. All the people of this kingdom have much faith in you and your decisions." 

"You're right, Beatrix. Thank you. Now leave me be, please. I wish to be alone,"

"Yes, your majesty." Beatrix saluted and left, leaving the queen to her thoughts. 

The dawning of a new day brought with it the hopes of the kingdom. Everyone came out to wish the crusade luck. The plan was to ambush the Desert Palace and hopefully get in and out without being seen, yeah right. Sephiroth had an alternative to the plan though. He would seek Kuja and recall Masamune, after he would deal with Kuja himself. He still hadn't decided anything about Shiara. _I'll just see how she does with the task at hand._

"Shiara, is everything ready?" 

"Yes, Sire," She answered swiftly. "As soon as we get in. We look ourselves and then get Masamune back and deal with him."

"Yes. You're sure the Queen won't get in the way?"

"She won't. Thou told her that I would take Cloud and thy friends. Thou will take care of them first chance I get."

"Good. It is well planned, nothing can go wrong. Come, if we're absent too long we'll be missed." Sephiroth said, leaving the room. 

__

I must protect him at all costs. That dream can't come true.

"There you are. Ready to go?" Zidane asked Sephiroth as he entered the room. Shiara followed close behind. 

"Yes." Everyone was gathering into little groups for the attack. Cloud, Tifa, and Nanaki were in a corner. Zidane, Vivi, Eiko, and Blank were a group and Garnet, Freya, Beatrix, and Steiner as a group. Zidane was arguing with Garnet.

"Dagger, you can't go. You have a responsibility to your country. How will they prosper without a ruler? It won't be safe." 

"Zidane don't worry. We're only looking for the sword. You guys can fight yourselves. Besides, I have Beatrix and Steiner to protect me."

"Dagger, ugh. You're impossible…" He said, walking off. Garnet shook her head as she went to the front of the room.

"Attention!" The room silenced. "We are now leaving. I don't want anyone to play hero here. We got into groups for a reason. Now, let's go." As they left the town people waved form their houses. Once outside the town the Hilda Garde 3 was waiting to take them to the old foe's whereabouts. 

Soon they were at the dock of his base. Zidane gathered them around.

"Everyone look around. Be as silent as you can. Our main priority is to get in and out. Now move out." Shiara, Sephiroth and Clouds group started towards the main chamber, Sephiroth went ahead of them. Shiara held them back. 

"He'll look around up there. Let's go look somewhere else," 

"You really have no idea do you?" Tifa asked. Shiara didn't respond. "When he gets that sword he'll destroy this world and the next until he's stopped. Sephiroth was Cloud's best friend and he had to kill him."

"Shut up!"  
"The Sephiroth he knew had gone up in smoke along with our hometown. Don't 

you see that? He doesn't care abou-" She was forced to stop as Shiara slapped her. 

"You don't know him the way I do. And you never will…" As Shiara spread her 

arms, chains were conjured up. They wrapped themselves swiftly around the group's legs and arms. Stopping the only line of escape they had. The green mage was summoning a hex to mercilessly slay them where they stood. She shut her eyes to begin the spell. Muttering an incantation she lifted her hands as if a great force was trying to hold them down. Her veins went ablaze with an emerald glow. Seeming to drain all of the energy out of her it formed a small sphere of light. As the orb grew so did its light, blinding the trio. The chant grew also so that they could here them. 

"The finis est prope, mors claudére en, the finis est prope. Time to die, fools!"

She shoot the sphere at them, it was the size of an orange by now. Cloud and Tifa both ducked. Nanaki burned her on the side of the leg. Loosing her concentration the chains were severed and Tifa jumped at her and grabbed her cloak helm around her neck.

"We should kill you but, you were just following a monsters orders so I guess we'll have to let you go. But not without a bit of discipline!" She hit Shiara in the side of her face. She fell in a heap at Tifa's feet. "That'll teach you. C'mon Cloud, lets go kill that devil!" She said, starting to racing up the stairs. 

"Tifa, we have to warn the others." Nanaki said in his gruff voice. 

"You guys go, I'll deal with Sephiroth!" 

"Tifa, last time it took three of us, you can't go alone." Cloud said, grabbing her arm.

"Fine, but I get the last hit." They dashed off to find Garnet, Zidane and the others. 

Being that the Desert Palace wasn't enormous they soon found Garnet.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Your Majesty, Sephiroth went to find Kuja on his own and Shiara tried to kill us. We have to get the Masamune before him!" Tifa said. 

"What!? We have to find Zidane. Freya, you're the fastest one here. Please find Zidane and tell him we're in Kuja's main chamber."

"Yes, Majesty." She jumped away.

"Now, lets go after Kuja." 

They were soon back at the entrance to the main chamber, Garnet saw Shiara spread out on the stairs. "What happened?"

"I told you, she tried to kill us. I had to knock her out." Tifa said. "Can we go now?"

"We'll have to wait for Zidane. It won't take long."

__

Sephiroth…I've failed you. Please forgive me.

If you don't hurry there won't be someone to forgive you.

What?

The finis est prope, mors claudére en, the finis est prope. Veni veni venias, Ne me mori facias, Ave formosissima, gemma pretiosa, Ne me mori facias. Save him…

Sephiroth!?

Hurry…

"SEPHIROTH!!!" Shiara screamed, racing towards the chamber. Tifa grabbed her arms. 

"You can't go in there, you'll get killed!" 

"Sephiroth!!! Don't fight him!!! Sephiroth!!!" 

"Stop it!"

"I must save him! He'll die if I don't! Let me go!" 

When Sephiroth had entered the chamber he saw Kuja standing with his back to him.

"I knew you would come…" Kuja remarked.

"Lets settle this." Sephiroth said, advancing on Kuja.

"You know you'll lose if you fight. You're too old for this." Sephiroth's eyes widened at Kuja's statement. 

"We'll just see about that. Come on,"

__

"As you wish. But, your time has come," Kuja turned around, baring Masamune in his hands. "Lets get on with it." Sephiroth made a sword float over to him before Kuja charged him. As they were fighting Zidane and his group arrived outside with the others. 

"What happened?" Zidane asked. 

"Apparently my thoughts about Sephiroth were right. He really was the enemy, not Cloud. They were just trying to protect us all from him. Please accept my apologies Cloud, Tifa, Nanaki." Garnet said.

"You were right to think that but lets forgive and forget later, right now we need to deal with Sephiroth." Tifa said, nearly forgetting about holding Shiara she slipped from her grasp. 

"Sephiroth! I'm coming!" She screamed running towards the entrance. 

__

"And while we're at it we'll have to save the minion…" Tifa sighed. They all started to run towards the doorway as Shiara ran screaming ahead of them. When she entered the chamber she saw the sparring at its peak. Both of them were breathing hard and were nursing minor cuts but neither one looked ready to give up. The battle raged on and it seemed that the odds were now running in Kuja's favor, him being quicker and more agile. Many times he almost got Sephiroth with Masamune, it seemed that it had chosen a new master and wanted the old one gone. As they fought the crowd gathered, ready to finish off the one left standing. Kuja and Sephiroth were circling one another Shiara followed Sephiroth so that she was always at his back_. _As Sephiroth stabbed at Kuja he jumped into the air. Kuja thrust at Sephiroths unprotected back but a green blur stepped infront of the sword. It was Shiara. She was pierced through her torso and fell in a slump at Sephiroths feet. 

"Shiara!" She heard him yell through the darkness that had a firm hold on her. 

"Why? Shiara…" He fell to his knees and held her in his arms. "What have you done…?" She could feel the tears inside of him.

__

"Sephiroth…I'm sorry… please forgive me…" She said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks, splattering on the ground. 

"For what? You never did anything wrong…" Sephiroth said.

"I'm sorry…I wasn't…more faithful…please…remember me…" Shiara lost her grip on the world, the darkness washed over her. She lost all hope of living, she felt her heart stop and Sephiroth cry out in the agony of losing her. Her life flashed before her, not the life in her humble little village but all of her life spent with her master, Sephiroth. All of the training, beatings she had to endure, the cliff diving, the fire light talks, everything. Her vision all of a sudden was clear, her last wish was granted, to see Sephiroth one last time. A last tear rolled down her cheek as her eyes closed and she faded into the darkness. A soft sound was heard as it hit the ground. Sephiroth picked up the little object; it was an emerald shaped like a tear. Shiara's spirit was inside of the crystal. Sephiroth held it close to his heart. She would always be with him, her memory, her spirit, and her forgiveness for all that he had done to her. He held her close one last time. Even the onlookers were touched by the sacrifice. Kuja dropped the sword and calling a silver dragon flew into the horizon.

Picking up the sword, Sephiroth saw the blood stained on its blade, he had caused so much pain and suffering with this implement of war. No more would he murder and make suffer, no more. He shattered it into pieces, throwing the fragments to the side he walked back over to Shiara's body, he lifted it as though it were the most fragile glass. Coming to the entrance of the Desert Palace the wings burst forth from his back one last time. The wings of an angel had no place on this demon before but now he finally realized it, he was an angel of death, cursed with the death of those he held dear to him. His mother, Lucrecia, his father, Hojo, Zack, and now Shiara, his most trusted comrades were gone. "I forgive you…" He said softly, looking down at her face. Her song played back in his mind, her voice sounded like that of an angel. He also remembered all the times they had had fun together. Soaring into the open desert he flew to one of the many cliffs that had the breathtaking sunsets. He had been here once before with her, she had said that this was the most beautiful place, able to over look the sea, sunset, and feel the oft sea breeze on your face. This is where she would lie in her eternal sleep. After she had been buried Sephiroth set off to conclude his business with the one that had made him lose her, Kuja. 

A few weeks later Sephiroth was found at Shiaras grave, still mourning after the long past battle. Kuja hadn't been seen since that day and few people thought he would ever come back. Cloud and his companions were about to go back when Zidane pulled Cloud aside for a conversation. 

"Hey Cloud, do you think Kuja is gone?"

"Anyone that Sephiroth had a grudge against is long dead. I wouldn't worry about him."

"What about Sephiroth, would he come after us?"

"I doubt it. When he found out about himself in Nibelheim he went nuts and burned the town, holding hatred against the world he tried to destroy it. Kuja took something from him and paid for it with his life. His whole life was nothing but a battle, I don't think Sephiroth is looking for anymore fights, only peace of mind." Cloud watched Sephiroth for a minute. _So, he was capable of compassion. He finally knows what it means to lose. Like what I felt like when Aeris died. You never know what something means till you lose it…_

"Shiara, sing again for me, my angel. Please…" A single tear rolled down his cheek. But even with the pleads Shiara lay quietly in her grave, never again to rise to her masters wishes. 


End file.
